It is becoming increasingly desirable in both competitive and recreational off road bicycling to utilize supplementary grips upon the normally straight handlebars. These grips often take the form of bar ends that mount onto the outlyinq opposing ends of the handlebar and extend outwardly at an angle therefrom for alternative positioned gripping by the rider. An illustration of a handlebar including such supplemental bar ends is shown in FIG. 1.
The bar ends 10 of FIG. 1 utilize one of the typical mounting configurations in which a base piece 12 is inserted into the orifice 14 of the handlebar 16 end and locked down so that the angled extension 18 of the bar end 10 projects from the base at an angle which, in this example, is approximately 45.degree. relative to the ground, forwardly of the rider. In this orientation, the bar ends 10 allow the rider to maintain a more comfortable alternate grip upon the handlebar while riding at constant cruising speed over smooth terrain and while climbing hills.
The brake levers 20 and other controls (not shown) that are normally mounted upon the handlebar 16 are generally removed by first removing the bar end 10 and any intervening grip material 22 (neoprene, etc.). The control 20 may then be slid away from the stem 21 and off the outlying end. In particular, most modern controls include a cast base 24 accurately fitted to the specific handlebar diameter and having little ability to yield inwardly or outwardly away from that diameter, i.e., most bases may carry a specific diameter adapted for snugly mounting upon a standard sized 22.2 millimeter diameter bar. As such, the control 20 must be slid onto and over a totally unobstructed open end of the handle bar 16 down to its intended mounting location. Any significant increase in diameter along the bar 16 tends to block passage of the control. Clearly, therefore, the bar ends 10 of FIG. 1 must be fully removable in order to allow the control to be mounted or removed from the handlebar.
Removable bar ends, however, pose certain problems, particularly in competitive off road bicycle racing. The complicated mounting arrangements necessary for a removable structure adds significantly to weight which adds substantially to the overall weight of the handlebar and bicycle. Weight increases of any kind are undesirable in off road bicycle racing. Additionally, the use of removable bar ends of the type depicted in FIG. 1 has been questioned by a number of bicycle racing associations. Over the long term, the use of such bar ends may, thus, be curtailed or eliminated in competition.
One alternative to removable bar ends, that may be acceptable in competition, is an integral bar end structure. However, as noted above, an integral structure may inhibit mounting of cast control bases upon the handlebar since a bend must be placed in the bar to form the end which tends to block the passage of the control base owing to the actual increase in overall outer diameter along the bend section. In the past, the only way to overcome the problem of sliding controls over the bar end (on a constant 22.2 millimeter diameter bar) has been to form a very large continuous radius curve along the full length of the bar. This has the disadvantage in that the bar end shape no longer includes sharp angles and comfortable straight grip sections as used in detachable bar ends, and, rather, becomes awkward to grip at all positions.